Man arrested in ICE raid near El Cajon is back with his family

Jorge Lopez, one of the men arrested during a March immigration raid near El Cajon, was recently released from federal custody. Just in time for his daughter’s eighth birthday.

Lopez was among the 15 men arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during the March 27 workplace raid at San Diego Powder and Protective Coatings. 

Federal prosecutors charged four men with knowingly hiring immigrants who do not have legal authorization to work. The rest, like Lopez, face deportation proceedings.

Lopez spent nearly a month at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. It’s the longest he’s spent away from his wife, Blanca Corona, and their four children.

Carona and the children are all U.S. citizens, but have found themselves directly impacted by President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Lopez’s absence took an emotional toll on the children, Corona said. One of them would sleep with a photo of him every night. Another started wetting the bed and acting up in school.

And the daughter with the upcoming birthday was obsessed over whether her dad would be there to celebrate it.

“Every day she was, ‘Is my dad coming back for my birthday, is my dad coming? the only thing I want for my birthday is for my dad to be home,’” Corona said.

But last Saturday, the girl’s wish came true.

An immigration judge released Lopez from custody on a $7,500 bond. He will fight the pending deportation case from his home in Escondido.

Lopez said life in federal detention was difficult — a lot of men suffer from depression and it’s not uncommon to hear them crying at night.

He also noticed that most of the men in detention are not violent or dangerous. One man was a retiree on a wheelchair. A couple had been arrested for driving without a license. The only blemish on Lopez’s record is a DUI conviction — he served more than 350 hours of court-ordered community service.

Lopez’s observations stand in stark contrast from the Trump administration’s rhetoric … that they are rounding up murderers, rapists and other dangerous criminals.

“They don’t tell the true story of what’s going on,” Lopez said.

The federal government's own records support his point. Of the 1,128 men detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in March, only 12% were categorized as “criminal,” according to Customs and Border Protection data.

The time Lopez spent in detention was the longest he's been away from his family. He’s been in the U.S. since he was 13 and said he can’t imagine a life back in Mexico.

“I haven’t been in Mexico so long, my whole family is here,” he said. “I want to fight my case.”

The first round of that fight was getting out of the private detention center in Otay Mesa. In the weeks leading up to the bond hearing, his immigration lawyer Tessa Cabrera asked Lopez's friends and family to help.

“We got letters of support so that the judge and the court can hear from the community and how much he means to them,” she said.

She found a lot of support from the parents and coaches of a youth soccer team Lopez volunteers with. People like Berenice Lopez (no relation), whose daughter plays on the team.

“My kids love him, so to me, it was a big deal when we found out (about the raid),” she said.

Rafael Blanco, the team’s head coach, said it’s tough for youth soccer teams to find volunteers to coach children in their spare time. Lopez is one of the few willing to do it on a consistent basis.

“He’s awesome with the kids,” he said. “The girls love him. They were upset when they found out what happened. When they saw him, they were excited to see him back on the field.”

Lopez said being back with the team is a welcome distraction from his pending deportation case.

But he’s painfully aware of his co-workers. Three have already been deported and the rest are still in federal detention, according to immigrant rights advocates.

A few of his closest work friends call Lopez regularly.

“I just tell them don’t give up,” he said.